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PHILOSOPHY OF MIND, 



DEVELOPING 



NEW SOURCES OF IDEAS, 



DESIGNATING 



THEIR DISTINCTIVE CLASSES, 



AND SIMPLIFYING THE 



FACULTIES AND OPERATIONS OF THE WHOLE MIND. 



Br JOHN STEARNS, M. B. 

OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, 

Late President of the Medical Society of the State. 



NEW-YORK: 
PRINTED BY WILLIAM OSBORN 

88 William-street. 

1840. 



'•• . 



7 



w / 



Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1840, 

BY THE AUTHOR, 

In ,he Clerk's office of .he District Court for the Southern District of Ne W -York. 



PHILOSOPHY OF MIND, 



DEVELOPING 



NEW SOURCES OF IDEAS, 



DESIGNATING 



, THEIR DISTINCTIVE CLASSES, 



AND SIMPLIFYING THE 



FACULTIES AND OPERATIONS OF THE WHOLE MIND. 



BIT JOHN STEARNS, M. D. 

OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, 
Late President of the Medical Society of the State. 



- OFc^ 



NEW -YORK: 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM OSBORN, 
88 William -street. 



18 4 0. 



A 



\ 



£ C 



A 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND 



Philosophers may investigate the arcana of nature, and designate 
the laws by which those wonderful phenomena are produced, which 
astonish and intimidate vulgar minds ; they may annihilate space, 
and approximate antipodes into a familiar circle of friends and neigh- 
bors; meteorologists may trace vapors to their conversion into 
clouds, and to their descent in rain, and by an accurate imitation of 
the operations of nature, may produce artificial showers, and locate 
the gorgeous bow in its appropriate element ; the electrician may 
disarm the clouds of their thunder, and conduct the forked lightning 
in harmless streams to his receivers ; the astronomer may elevate 
his views to the heavens, survey the extent of this vast expanse ; 
trace the movements of the celestial bodies through their respective 
orbs ; ascertain, with great accuracy, their magnitudes, their dis- 
tances, and their periodical revolutions; describe the paths of the 
erratic comets ; demonstrate their use in connecting innumerable 
unknown systems, their approximation to their respective suns, and 
their rapid divergency into infinite space ; controlling the movements 
of each system in one grand harmonious compound, and preserving 
in perfect order every part of this vast, this complicated machinery. 
But what are all these objects, sublime and magnificent as they may 
be, compared with the sovereign of this world, the master-piece of 
creation ; the consummate perfection of the last day's work ; the key- 
stone that completes the arch of the universe ; for whose happiness 
this magnificent work was conceived and executed in the councils 
of heaven ! 

The adequate discussion of a subject so important, so sublime, and 
replete with such intense interest, requires a pen plucked from an 
angel's wing, and a mind long and assiduously directed to the study 
of man, in all the mysterious combinations of his material and imma- 
terial parts. 

I purpose, in the present essay, to occupy the reader's atten- 
tion with a few brief remarks on the immaterial part of man. My 



4 NEW PHILOSOPHY OP MIND. 

selection of tins topic has been influenced by a desire to excite the 
attention of the Medical Faculty, more particularly, to the study of 
the human mind, and in a few preliminary remarks, I shall demon- 
strate its practical importance to the physician, by showing the 
influence which it exerts upon the body. 

Dr. Rush observes : * It is the duty of physicians to assert then- 
prerogative, and to rescue mental science from the usurpations of 
school-men. It can only be perfected by the aid and discoveries of 
medicine. A knowledge of the functions and operations of the mind 
is useful to the physician in the study of physiology, hygeine, 
pathology, and in the practice of medicine. It furnishes many useful 
analogies by which we can explain and illustrate the functions of the 
body. 

4 Is the will influenced by motives 1 So the body is influenced by 
external and internal impressions. Is the will destitute of a self- 
determining power % So the body is devoid of an independent prin- 
ciple of life. Both are influenced by associations and habits, and 
both equally require repose, after active exertion.' This knowledge 
also enables us to develope the causes of disease, and to preserve a 
regular exercise of the faculties and operations of the mind, so as to 
prevent disease, arising from their torpor, or from their undue exer- 
cise. A physician destitute of this knowledge, is a very incompetent 
judge of the influence which the mind exerts upon the body, in the 
production and cure of diseases ; nor can he avail himself of a remedy 
more efficacious than the most potent article of the materia medica. 

Dr. Reid justly remarks, that ' all such practitioners are like a 
surgeon, who, while he secures one artery, suffers his patient to bleed 
to death by another.' Before the fall of man, his mind was pure, 
holy, and perfectly equal and regular in all its operations upon the 
body, which it animated and sustained in perfect health. Such a 
perfection of mind and body, justly balanced in all their reciprocal 
operations, was destined to endure for ever in the perfect enjoyment 
of that unalloyed felicity which is known only to the inhabitants of 
paradise. Exempt from disease, and undisturbed by inordinate 
passions, this harmonious compound flourished in the health and 
vigor of youth, until a poison, artfully infused into the mind, contami- 
nated the body with pain, disease, and death. The effects of this 
infection were evinced in the conviction of shame and guilt which 
our first parents instantly exhibited ; and also in that depravity of 
mind, thereby induced, which caused such an unequal operation of 
the passions and faculties, as to affect the body with disease, and 
an immediate and direct tendency to its destruction. At that moment 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 5 

it began to die. This was therefore the primary source of all the 
diseases which subsequently afflicted mankind. 

Although the seeds of dissolution thus planted in man, by the act 
of disobedience, proved the literal execution of the threat, 'in the 
day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,' they did not produce 
their mature and ultimate effect in abbreviating human life, until after 
that most corrupt period of the world, which immediately preceded 
the general deluge. 

Experience and revelation afford ample evidence, that a life of 
virtue is necessarily connected with moral happiness. If such a life 
were perpetuated through a lineal succession of generations, it would 
probably restore that beauty, health, and felicity, which man lost 
when he was expelled from paradise. 

That mental depravity produces not only disease of body and of 
mind, but £f ] so corporeal deformity, is sustained by common observa- 
tion, and may also be inferred from that Jewish law, which precluded 
deformed persons from performing, and consequently from profa- 
ning, the holy rites of the priesthood, and which also prohibited the 
oblation of all animals with similar defects. 

This position is sustained by tracing a similar connection between 
virtue and corporeal beauty, even to its figurative perfection in Deity, 
and to its visible exemplification in the body of Christ, which was 
represented by his contemporaries to have been exquisitely beautiful. 
It is for this reason, that beautiful objects excite the most ardent 
affections of the heart, which always increase as those objects 
approximate the perfection of beauty. The propriety of this affec- 
tion, and its necessary connection with our happiness, are susceptible 
of mathematical demonstration. The soul which exerts such mighty 
powers upon this mass of inert matter, must, by its continued opera- 
tion, produce an impress deep and durable as existence. 

This subject is replete with sublime contemplations, which excite 
our astonishment, as we approach the unexplored region of a world 
of spirits, and behold the immensity of power which they exert. 
This region I now propose to enter, and to consider more minutely 
the immaterial part of man. But I cannot approach the confines of 
this immaterial world, without first invoking the guidance of that 
spirit of truth, which controls its destinies, and which reveals to man 
occasional glimpses of its glorious mysteries. 

Although some of the views which I may suggest on this obscure, 
this abstruse topic, may be novel, and at variance with opinions here- 
tofore expressed by metaphysical writers, I trust they will be sus- 
tained by reason and by facts. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

In approaching this branch of my subject, I feel as if I were tread- 
ing on consecrated ground, and inspired with a reverential awe at 
the presumptive efforts to explore a field so mysterious, without a 
single ray to illumine my darkened path. In making any new sug- 
gestions on a subject so important, and so much discussed, I am not 
insensible to the imputation of presumption that I may justly incur, 
for attempting to innovate upon the established theories of such 
giants in metaphysical science, as Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Locke, 
Reid, Stewart, Brown, and a host of others, whose publications have 
excited the admiration of the scientific world, and which have been 
successively adopted as oracles of truth. I am also aware of the 
irresistible influence of prejudice, and the pride of opinion, which 
array many scientific professors against contemporaneous innovators. 
The innovations of a Gallileo, a Harvey, and a Rush, were repu- 
diated, and they denounced as unworthy of confidence, until their 
last rival contemporary had passed into oblivion. 

Posterity has done them justice. The tongue of envy and jealousy 
having been paralyzed in death, other tongues became vocal to their 
honor, and eulogized them as benefactors of mankind. These 
instances exemplify the natural disposition of man to assail innova- 
tors in science ; and from the asperity of that censorious spirit, I 
have no expectation nor desire to be exempt. I trust the remarks of 
the critic, whether breathing the spirit of censure or of praise, will 
be equally useful to direct my future course through this trackless 
ocean. Like the intrepid mariner, voyaging for the discovery of a 
new world, amidst obstacles the most appalling, I shall persevere in 
my onward course of investigation, until the light of truth, from some 
distant isle, shall dissipate all doubts, and with unerring indications 
of ultimate success, shall excite to renewed energies, or the limitless 
and lowering expanse in prospect shall preclude the hope of all 
future discoveries. 

Ever since the time of Aristotle, writers on mental science have 
considered man as a compound being, consisting of two distinct 
parts, mind and matter, or material and immaterial. In all their dis- 
cussions, they have identified the soul with the mind. This confusion 
of terms, this indiscriminate use of soul and mind, to express the 
same entity, has led to a correspondent obscurity in all the efforts to 
explain the origin of ideas. 

It will be my primary object to designate the error of this hypo- 
thetical philosophy, the consequent erroneous deductions relative to 
the operations of mind, the origin of ideas, and the various results of 
premises founded upon a philosophy at variance with the inductive 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 7 

system of Bacon. The revolution which this practical philosopher 
introduced, has never been extended to improve the science of 
metaphysics, except that branch which relates to the mind, in connec- 
tion with the modern system of phrenology. It may be replied, that 
immaterial entities are unsusceptible of demonstrative proof deduced 
from positive facts. But this will not justify the departure from 
approved authorities, and the substitution of theories drawn entirely 
from creative imaginations. 

The physical parts of man have, from the earliest origin of medical 
science, been subjected to the dissector's knife ; and their situations, 
forms, structures, and uses, have been so repeatedly demonstrated by 
the anatomist and the physiologist, as to have produced a general and 
uniform concurrence of opinion in the accuracy of their explanations. 
But not so with the immaterial part of man. A great diversity of 
opinion has prevailed, and will continue to prevail, until some positive 
evidence can be adduced, that will not admit of a difference of con- 
struction. 

Perhaps no author contributed more to harmonize those conflicting 
Opinions, and to concentrate public opinion in his favor, than the 
celebrated John Locke. But already have some of his errors been 
demonstrated and refuted, and some of his favorite theories been 
compelled to yield to others. I will briefly advert to a few of his 
prominent errors. He denies the existence of innate ideas, and 
ascribes all our knowledge to ideas derived entirely from sensation 
and reflection. He also considers the mind as a tabula rasa, or 
blank sheet of paper, susceptible of any impressions that may chance 
first to be made upon its surface. 

The following passages from Locke's essay, will more fully explain 
his own views. He says : 

* I doubt not but to show that man, by the right use of his natural 
abilities, may, without any innate principles, attain a knowledge of a 
G-od, and other things concerning him, and may arrive at certainty, 
without any such original notions or principles.' 

1 Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, and 
void of all characters, without ideas, how comes it to be furnished % 
"Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge % To this 
I answer, in one word, from experience. In that all our knowledge 
is founded, and from that it ultimately derives itself. Methinks the 
understanding is not unlike a closet wholly shut from light, with only 
some little opening left, to let in external visible resemblances or 
ideas of things without.' 

1 The great source of most of the ideas we have depending wholly 



S NEW PHILOSOPHY OP MIND. 

upon our senses, and derived by them from the understanding, I call 
sensation. The other fountain, from experience, furnishes the under- 
standing with ideas, is the perception of the operation of our own 
minds within us, as it is employed about the ideas it has got. I call 
this reflection. These two are, to me, the only originals from 
whence all our ideas take their beginnings.' 

With regard to the moral duties, he says : ' I doubt not but with- 
out being written on their hearts, many men may, by the same way 
that they come to the knowledge of other things, come to assent to 
several moral rules, and be convinced of their obligation, which 
persuasion, however got, will serve to set conscience at work.' 

The doctrines here advanced by Locke, however unintentionally 
on his part, have led to skepticism, and have furnished Hume and 
other skeptics with arguments in favor of the absurdities of the ideal 
system, to the total exclusion of the existence of matter. In develop- 
ing my own views on this subject, I shall endeavor to show that 
these opinions are unfounded. 

Notwithstanding the variety of opinions that have been succes- 
sively advanced upon the faculties and operations of the human mind, 
very little of importance has yet been added to the discoveries of 
Aristotle and Plato. Pioneers in the science of mind, they were 
guided by their own genius to a more successful discovery of truth 
than many of their more enlightened successors. Imagination had not 
then fabricated so many baseless hypotheses, as subsequently dis- 
tinguished those ages of the world, more famed for learning and 
science. 

I shall now proceed to give my own views on this subject, for 
which I claim no farther credence than as they may consist with 
reason and with truth, and be sustained by facts, and by satisfactory 
evidence. Preparatory to more detailed explanations, I now submit 
the following propositions, as comprehending the fundamental prin- 
ciples of this theory : 

I. Man consists of three distinct entities : 
Body, Soul, and Mind. 

II. The ideas of sensation are those carnal ideas which constitute 
the animal propensities, and which we derive, in common with other 
animals, from the five senses. 

III. The intellectual, and moral, and religious ideas, which some 
philosophers ascribe to reflection, and to innate principles, are 
derived entirely and exclusively from the soul. In the soul is held 
the high court of chancery, denominated conscience, or the moral 
sense. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 9 

IV. When the soul operates upon the brain, it produces what 
may be denominated a moral mind, endowed with intellectual and 
religious faculties; and until excited to action by this operation, the 
faculties of the brain remain perfectly dormant. 

V. "When the senses operate upon the brain, they produce what 
may be denominated sensual mi?id, which man possesses in common 
with the inferior animals, but which is essentially changed and 
improved by the accession of the soul to the body. 

I now proceed to consider the first proposition, that man consists 
of three distinct entities; body, soul, and mind. This proposition 
constitutes the fundamental principle by which all the others are 
sustained. 

In searching for proof in the authority of names to sustain this 
proposition, I looked in vain to the publications of metaphysical 
authors. I have consulted theologians and professors of mental 
science in literary institutions, without being able to obtain any satis- 
factory information. All seemed to concur in the opinion that the 
mind and soul are identically the same. 

I therefore resolved to abandon this course of investigation, and 
to direct my researches to that Volume alone, which reveals the occult 
mysteries of the world of spirits. And here I found the following 
command : 

' Thou shalt love the Lord thy GJ-od, with all thy heart, with all thy 
soul, and with all thy mind/ 

This command was issued by that very Being who made man; who 
breathed into him, and he became a living soul ; who spake as never 
man spake ; who is the word of truth, and from whose lips streams 
of instruction incessantly flowed. 

This appropriate text, emanating from such high authority, and 
from one who never spoke in vain, arrested my attention, shed a 
gleam of light over the science of mind, and by deep and continued 
reflection on the important truth it contained, dissipated my doubts, 
and almost entirely dispersed the dense obscurity in which this 
science appeared to be enshrouded. The positive distinction here 
made between the soul and the mind, pours a flood of valuable infor- 
mation upon the latter, and developes sources of ideas never before 
suggested. It subverts the basis of many absurd hypotheses, explains 
phenomena hitherto unintelligible, and conducts us to a clear and 
perspicuous view of the science of mind. 

I am aware, at the same time, that this construction will naturally 
suggest the following reflections : Can this be true, and not have 
arrested the attention of a Locke, a Reid, a Stewart, a Brown, and 

2 



10 NEW PHILOSOPHY OP MIND. 

other eminent philosophers, who possessed the same evidence, and 
whose long and untiring investigations were assiduously directed to 
the same object ? Is it possible that a text so full of meaning, so 
plain, intelligible, and expressive, and which will not admit of any 
other literal interpretation, could have escaped the notice of all 
philosophical inquirers after truth, from the time it was first recorded, 
to the present period '\ Were not the repetition of soul and mind 
intended merely as an amplification, to impress the subject deeper 
and more permanently upon the mind V 

These and similar reflections induced me for a long time to hesi- 
tate, and almost to doubt the evidence of my own senses. But the 
more I reflected and investigated, the stronger were my convictions 
of the truth of the construction which I had conceived. Regardless, 
therefore, of consequences to myself, and of the criticisms of a censo- 
rious world, I resolved to persevere, to sustain and promulge a truth 
so important to a correct view of the science of mind, and even at 
the risk of a collision with a system, of philosophy sustained by 
illustrious names, and sanctioned by the experience of ages. I was 
also aware that I should have to combat that pride of opinion which 
never yields to innovators — neither principles nor discoveries that 
have not been sanctioned by time, or by the highest authorities in 
science ; without which sanction, legitimately conferred, error must 
be error still. 

The spirit of truth has pronounced the distinction between soul 
and mind in a command equally clear and positive, as when he said 
' Let there be light.' Both rest on the same immutable basis; both 
are equally perspicuous, and unsusceptible of a figurative, or any 
other construction, than those simple words are intended plainly 
to convey ; and whoever denies the one, may with the same pro- 
priety reject the other. It is a remarkable fact, in corroboration of 
the theory I am endeavoring to sustain, that the arrangement of the 
three entities in this text, is precisely the same which this theory 
assigns to each in their successive origins. The body is first formed 
with its five senses, each of which goes into full operation as they 
successively become matured ; the soul next occupies its destined 
station in the body, and by its appropriate action on the brain, pro- 
duces the mind. 

We have then body, soul, and mind, arranged in the order of their 
creation, and perfectly corresponding to the arrangement adopted in 
the mandate of Christ. I was not aware of the reason of this 
arrangement, till long after this theory had been formed ; and now 
simply make the allusion, to evince the perfect coincidence of every 
important circumstance in the illustration of truth. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 11 

* But,' says the objector, i this order in the text is a mere unde- 
signed contingency.' 

1 Who art thou, O man, that judgest?' With man, I admit such 
might have been the fact ; but not with God. Our Creator does not 
so instruct his creatures. He leaves nothing to a contingency. He 
has a design in all his works, by which to illustrate his own existence, 
the works of creation, and the mysterious work of redemption. 

This argument may be farther illustrated by the following mandate : 
4 Let us make man in our own image.' 

It is the creed of a great proportion of the Christian world, that 
divinity consists of three distinct entities, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
If the opinion be correct that man consists of only two parts, how 
can he be made perfectly to resemble, in all respects, the image of the 
triune God % Consistency would require Trinitarians at least to 
reject an hypothesis so much at variance with their faith, and adopt 
the opinion that man, like his great Creator, consists of three distinct 
entities, and is made in all respects, both physical and moral, in the 
perfect image of the Deity. 

I am at the same time aware, that the construction generally given 
to this passage makes the allusion refer exclusively to the moral image 
of God. But this limits his operations to a scale incongruous with 
the infinity of his nature. His image, in all its constituent and moral 
parts, is impressed not only on man, but on every part of creation. 
This is perfectly in accordance with the moral government of the 
universe, every portion of which is susceptible of spiritual interpre- 
tation, with a direct typical reference to the Deity. That his image 
is impressed upon all his works, adds much cogency to the argument, 
and is a beautiful illustration of the instruction which it furnishes of 
the existence of the Deity, and of his superintending providence. 

The argument also acquires additional confirmation from that great 
spiritual philosopher, Saint Paul, in the following passage : ' That 
which may be known of God, is manifest in them, for the invisible 
things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being 
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and 
Godhead.' 

This is decisive proof that man is created in a perfect resemblance 
of the Deity, and that by attentively observing the component parts 
of man, we may arrive at a correct knowledge of the component 
parts of God. 

The body of man represents the Son, the soul the Father, and the 
mind the Holy Ghost. A still stronger likeness may be found in 
their respective actions. As the soul, operating upon the brain, pro- 



12 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

duces the mind, so the Father, by the operation of his own will, pro- 
duces the Holy Ghost. Those who disbelieve in the Trinity, for the 
single reason that they cannot comprehend the existence of three 
distinct beings in one person, by studying the complex nature of man 
in the aspect herein represented, must be convinced that the same 
complex existence of God is perfectly reconcileable to reason and to 
common sense. And they will also perceive how clearly the invisi- 
ble things of him may be understood, by the visible things that are 
made ; how perfectly symbolical man represents the image of his 
Creator. 

Another argument may be derived from the following consideration : 
It has always been an embarrassing question, how far man is re- 
sponsible for acts committed in a state of mental derangement, and 
under what degree of derangement that accountability would en- 
tirely cease. 

The soul, being a distinct entity, can never be affected by a derange- 
ment of the mind : being the source of all intellectual, moral, and 
religious faculties, its moral responsibilities will remain undiminished 
through every vicissitude to which the human mind may be subjected. 
The mind is the only part that suffers derangement ; and being dis- 
tinct from the soul, can never affect its moral condition, but is always 
liable to participate in the sufferings of the body, and to be influenced 
by its morbid changes. 

It is a maxim in philosophy, that whatever most satisfactorily ex- 
plains all the phenomena of any natural event, may safely be assumed 
as a principle of truth. I am perfectly willing to have this system 
tried, to stand or fall, by this single test, without any reference to the 
arguments that have already been adduced in its support. 

I shall now proceed to apply this text, and to demonstrate the 
practical effect of this theory, by attempting to unfold the various 
operations by which ideas are produced on this principle. And I 
trust that a suitable application of this principle will elucidate this 
branch of the subject, and divest it of that obscurity and ambiguity 
to which it has hitherto been subjected, by the diversity of opinions 
and hypotheses which characterize the systems now before the 
public. 

The body is an inert mass, endowed with organs peculiarly 
adapted to every useful occupation, and when excited into vital 
action, these organs transmit to the nerves correspondent animation. 
Through the media of these nerves communicating with external 
objects, and a simultaneous operation upon the brain, ideas are 
derived from the senses, and from thence transmitted to, and lodged 
in, the brain. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 13 

The first ideas we receive, are derived mostly from the sense of 
touch. I wish it here to be distinctly understood, that all the ideas 
derived from the senses are located together in a particular part of 
the brain, and are denominated sensual or animal propensities, and 
are precisely of the same class of ideas which the inferior animals 
derive from the same source. And until the soul assumes its resi- 
dence in the brain, and exerts its influence over that organ, the infant 
possesses no distinctive faculties of mind, superior to the brutes. 
These sensual ideas are clustered together in a part of the brain 
entirely distinct from that portion which is occupied by ideas arising 
from other sources. 

The sensual ideas are the source of those appetites, desires, and 
affections, which contain all the germs of vice with which human 
nature is afflicted. From these roots emanate hatred, malice, rage, 
revenge, and all the kindred passions, which give origin to cruelty, 
ferocity, murder, and systematic warfare. But without these natural 
impulses, reason would be incompetent to provide for the preserva- 
tion of the individual, and the continuance of the species. 

The perversion of these appetites, so necessary for our preserva- 
tion and happiness, gives rise to intemperance, and the various modi- 
fications of sensual indulgences. By thus prostituting his nobler and 
higher endowments to such sensual gratifications, man degrades the 
dignity of his nature, and sinks beneath the brutes. But when the 
soul commences its operation upon the brain, and extends and con- 
tinually exerts its influence, all its congeries of organs partake of 
this new vitality, and the mind also assumes a new and more elevated 
existence, with all its faculties and propensities strongly impressed 
with the intellectual, moral, and religious influence which this new 
inhabitant exerts over the evil tendencies of its natural propensities. 
Man now becomes perfect and entire, with body, soul, and mind, 
and so continues to exist, as long as the soul continues its destined 
influence over the brain. But when this influence is suspended or 
destroyed, by disease or violence, the faculties of the mind become 
deranged, suspended, or cease to exist. This subject acquires 
additional illustration from recent discoveries in the science of 
phrenology. All who have acquired a competent knowledge of this 
science, uniformly concur in the opinion that all the intellectual, 
moral, and religious faculties which arise from the soul, are located 
in the anterior and superior portion of the brain. And that all the 
sensual and animal propensities, which arise from the senses, are 
located in the posterior and inferior portion of the same organ. 
According to the principles sustained in this system, the soul alone 



14 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

brings to the brain all the intellectual, moral, and religious faculties 
which it is known to possess. I trust therefore it will not be deemed 
arrogance in me to deduce, from these premises, the precise point 
of location where the soul assumes its actual and permanent resi- 
dence. These deductions fully justify the opinion that the soul 
occupies only the superior and anterior portion of the brain, where 
these faculties are found to exist. 

The relative position which the faculties of the soul and the animal 
propensities thus hold toward each other, is admirably arranged to 
carry on that systematic warfare, which is said by the apostle to be 
incessantly waged by the latter against the former; and is also 
strongly emblematical of their respective characters. 

The animal propensities, low, grovelling, and deceptive, in perfect 
consonance with their prominent traits of character, occupy that 
inferior and posterior portion of the brain, by which they may be 
most effectually shielded, and under which they may conceal and 
prosecute most successfully their insidious assaults upon the soul. 
While the latter, from its elevated and dignified position, looks down 
upon its assailants with pity, shielded only from their assaults by the 
panoply of conscious rectitude. 

From the preceding remarks, it will now be perceived that I sus- 
tain the position, that the intellectual, moral, and religious faculties 
exist primarily and exclusively in the soul ; and that all the sensual 
or animal propensities arise entirely and exclusively from the body ; 
hence the former are termed in Scripture ' spiritual,' and the latter 
1 carnal.' In proportion, then, as volition brings the soul into close 
affinity with the brain, will the intellectual and moral faculties more 
or less predominate. 

The soul does not, like the mind, acquire knowledge by experience 
and education, but comes to its habitation in the body replete with 
perfect intuitive knowledge, which it gradually communicates to the 
mind, as circumstances facilitating such communications may be 
more or less propitious. It may hence be easily inferred, that the 
soul constitutes that new source of ideas to which I have already 
alluded, and which will subsequently be explained. 

By what process the soul acquires its ideas, and this perfect intui- 
tive knowledge, is a question which man in his corporeal existence 
can never answer nor comprehend. It can be understood only when 
we, disembodied, arrive in that spiritual kingdom, where soul 
meets soul, under the immediate dominion of the ' King, eternal, 
immortal, invisible.' Then shall we know as we are known, and be 
able to solve the questions which here receive no satisfactory reply. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. \& 

However difficult it may be clearly to comprehend the preceding 
proposition, it may be more perfectly elucidated, if we are permitted 
to consider the soul to be an infinitesimal part of Deity ; and I am 
not conscious of any very solid objections to the assumption of this 
ground. At the same time, I am aware that even the suggestion will 
be met with objections of the most solemn character, and perhaps 
with the asseverations of profanity. Such arguments I conceive to be 
more sophistical than solid, and better calculated to prolong an 
unprofitable controversy, than to produce conviction, or any decisive 
result. I shall therefore make no farther allusion to such objections, 
but merely add a few remarks in vindication of this course. 

The universe is filled with the Spirit of God. No portion of it can 
for a moment be supposed to be destitute of his actual presence. 
When, therefore, God breathed into man, and he became a living 
soul, will it belaid that this was a new creation, or a portion of that 
spirit which pervades the universe] We must also consider that 
spirit is only another word for breath ; and that the sentence might 
very properly be rendered thus : ' God breathed into man his spirit ; 
and he became a living soul.' This also designates the precise time 
when the soul is received into the body; for as with the breath of 
the Creator, his spirit was imparted to the first man, so we may con- 
clusively infer that the soul is imparted to the infant with its first 
inspiration. 

Another figurative allusion to the creation of man, ' the rock from 
which he had been hewed,' fortifies the opinion that the soul is an 
emanation from his Creator. Sustained by these and other arguments 
that might be adduced, I shall assume the position that the soul is an 
infinitesimal part of Deity, without any reference to consequences 
that might be urged in its refutation : although I deem it perfectly 
immaterial to the issue of this theory, w y hether the soul be a new 
creation, or a part of Deity ; as the power which creates, can, with 
equal facility, render it perfect in either case. 

The ways of God are beyond our comprehension, and to His 
wisdom do we submit the results, without attempting to reconcile 
them with the very limited views which we are permitted to take of 
his plans and operations. We can only say with David : ' We are 
fearfully and wonderfully made !' 

I assume only what appears to be the clear and obvious construc- 
tion of the Bible, as the basis of the theory which I have endeavored 
to sustain. Beyond this I cannot presume to go. I cannot enter the 
confines of fancy, and adopt the interminable productions and absurd 
hypotheses of creative imaginations. Fortunate would it have been 



16 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

for the cause of science, had the wisdom of preceding ages erected 
its structures upon the same infallible and enduring basis. 

I therefore conclude that we are amply sustained, by the evidence 
already adduced, in ascribing to the soul perfect intuitive knowledge, 
derived immediately from the Deity, together with all its intellectual 
ideas, inherent seeds of virtue, morality, and religion. Why, then, 
it may be inquired, does not the mind of the infant become per- 
fect in knowledge the moment the soul takes its residence in the 
brain 1 I trust the following remarks will be a satisfactory reply to 
this inquiry. 

The Creator has so constituted man, that he must be progressive 
in all his mental and corporeal developments, and in all their ap- 
proaches to maturity. The brain of the infant is so extremely deli- 
cate in its structure, as to be incompetent to sustain the sudden and 
full operation of the perfect and mature soul. But few of its organs 
are at first sufficiently developed, to receive impressions. The facul- 
ties of the mind, therefore, which are first manifested, are of the 
most simple character ; and as the organs acquire additional energy 
and strength, the other more mature and complex faculties become 
successively developed, so as ultimately to receive the full operation 
and impressions of the soul. 

In perfect accordance with this explanation, the history of Christ 
does not furnish us with any satisfactory evidence that he manifested, 
while an infant, any powers of intellect far exceeding the puerilities 
of a child. This explanation may be more clearly elucidated by a 
reference to the first man. The body of Adam, in all its parts and 
organs, was perfect and mature, when his soul was received from his 
Creator. Consequently his knowledge was not progressively ac- 
quired. But being perfect and mature in body, the soul came at 
once in perfect contact with all those organs of the brain which it 
was destined to occupy, and to which it instantly communicated intel- 
lectual and moral faculties, in their highest state of perfection. Man 
was, then, made perfect in body, perfect in soul, perfect in mind, and 
perfect in holiness ; literally resembling the image of his Creator, in 
all his moral and constituent parts. 

If any are disposed to controvert this position, and to affirm that 
the soul is destitute of intelligence, of intellectual and moral facul- 
ties, until it has effected an intimate union with those organs of the 
brain where those faculties are developed, a simple reference to 
the most conclusive testimony every where exhibited in the Bible, 
the only authority in existence on this point, of the intelligence mani- 
fested by angelic and other disembodied spirits, in their communica- 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OB" MIND. 17 

tions to man, and with each other, is amply sufficient to place this 
question forever at rest. 

So frequently repeated is this evidence, and so well known to 
every believer in divine revelation, that a reference to particular 
instances would be a useless occupation of time. I may here 
observe, that all information and facts relating to the world of spirits, 
derived from any source counter to divine revelation, must rest upon 
a false basis. Where is the man that has lived in that spiritual world, 
and returned to instruct corporeal beings in the nature, character, and 
faculties of the souls which dwell there 1 But there is One, who not 
only dwells there, but rules as its absolute sovereign, over that spi- 
ritual region, who has condescended to instruct man in the myste- 
ries of that portion of his empire, which are necessary for his hap- 
piness. Is it not, then, a species of insanity to abandon this only 
source of tru'h, and to resort to the theories of unaided reason, as 
manifested in the writings of Aristotle and Plato % Yet with this 
light brilliantly illuminating their path, ever since the commencement 
of the Christian era, have philosophers sought the light of truth 
among the dark recesses of heathen philosophy. Error has thus been 
based on error, until the whole superstructure exhibits, in a beautiful 
exterior, specimens of refined taste and exquisite art, but without 
that material necessary to constitute symmetry, strength, and duration. 

If the soul be the fountain from which the mind derives all its 
streams of intellectual and moral science, the opinions advocated by 
Locke and others, that all ideas originate from sensation and reflection, 
must be unfounded. What possible use can metaphysicians ascribe 
to the soul, the only intellectual part of man % Can it for a moment 
be admitted, that although perfect, it acquires all its ideas from its 
union with an inert, inanimate body ] The manner in which ideas 
originate from the senses has already been explained ; but how ideas 
of morality and religion can, by any mode or power of reflection, be 
generated from the combined operation of the five senses, is to me an 
obscure mystery. Neither can I understand how ideas arising en- 
tirely from sensation, can ever arrive at those sublime intellectual 
attainments, which unfold the laws of creation, embrace the universe, 
scan the heavens, penetrate the world of spirits, and ascend to a know- 
ledge of that great supreme of all spirits, the omnipotent, the om- 
niscient God. 

Although this opinion has been advocated, and confidently affirmed, 
by that profound philosopher, John Locke, it is evidently at variance 
with correct observation and strong facts. Ideas arising entirely and 
exclusively from the senses, can never, by any human power, be 

3 



18 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

extended beyond the objects of sense. The sense of touch can 
generate no other ideas than those which arise from those external 
objects, which come in contact with that sense. 

Such ideas may, by comparison or reflection, ascertain the various 
qualities of the objects to which this sense has been applied, and 
which come within its powers of investigation, and may also compare 
these with ideas derived from the other senses. But there their 
powers end. The sense of smelling may ascertain the peculiar odors 
of all bodies, and may compare the ideas arising from that source 
with each other, and also with those arising from the other four senses. 
But there its faculties also terminate. The faculties and operations'' 
of all the other senses are subjected to the same laws, and restricted 
to the same limits. 

But from which of the senses can any moral or religious ideas 
originate 1 Or can any such results be generated by the combined 
action of all the ideas of sensation, with their very limited powers of 
reflection, in grand council convened % No ; ages might roll away, in 
a vain search for knowledge so infinitely exceeding their highest 
conceptions ! The soul must come to impart to the mind the sources 
from which all this knowledge is derived. And without this know- 
ledge, man is not superior to the brutes. He sees, feels, hears, smells, 
and tastes r in common with them ; and all his reasoning powers are, 
like theirs, limited to the proper objects which are designed to gratify 
those senses, and to preserve life. This is the mode of reasoning 
peculiar to all animals destitute of a soul ; and so far as the gratifi- 
cation of the senses, and the preservation of life, are concerned, they 
reason more correctly than man. So rapid is this process performed 
in their minds, and so correct and instantaneous are the conclusions 
at which they arrive, and so far exceeding similar powers in man, 
that it has been considered to be the effect of a divine influence, 
denominated instinct ; a faculty which no one can understand. 

A variety of reasons might be assigned to explain these extraor- 
dinary powers in brutes. The preservation of their lives, and the 
gratification of their appetites, absorb their whole attention ; and 
their mental faculties, being exclusively and constantly exercised 
upon these objects, acquire a high degree of activity, and impart to 
their nerves an acuteness of discernment, which enables them to avoid 
noxious articles, and to select those only which administer to their 
wants, and to their sustenance. 

As a substitute for their privation of the higher intellectual powers, 
their nervous system has been originally endowed with an extreme 
sensitive acuteness, on which all their reasoning powers depend ; and 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 19 

by the degree of this acuteness, may those powers be accurately 
graduated. The mind of man being occupied with nobler and more 
elevated themes, often neglects to attend to the dictates of those 
senses which direct to the means of self-preservation, and in this 
respect may be considered inferior to other animals. Facts in cor- 
roboration of this exposition daily occur under our notice, and might 
be cited ad libitum. The elephant exhibits a striking instance of this 
fact ; the extremity of whose trunk is supplied with more nerves than 
the whole of his huge body beside. He consequently possesses a 
faculty of discriminating, so extremely acute and sensitive, and so far 
exceeding that of other animals, as to be denominated the ' half-rea- 
soning elephant.' 

Although Locke is opposed to the admission of innate ideas, others 
have assumed the opposite ground, and advocated their preexistence, 
with ability se^d success ; but appear utterly at a loss to account for 
their precise location, or their origin, or the mode of their existence, 
and the means by which they may be excited to action. A reference 
to the opinions of a few prominent authors, in their own words, will 
exhibit a more explicit detail of their views, their difficulties, and 
their unsuccessful efforts to divest this subject of its intrinsic myste 
ries. In contrast with their confused views on this subject, I shall 
then endeavor to explain the perfect consistency of innate ideas with 
the theory sustained in this essay, and to evince how easily all these 
difficulties and mysteries may be dissipated, and the whole subject 
rendered perfectly clear and intelligible. 

Stewart says : ' Locke was guilty of great error, in deducing the 
origin of all our knowledge from sensation and reflection, and also in 
denying the existence of innate ideas, and in asserting that our ideas 
of morality and religion are the result of education and experience. 
The sciences rest ultimately on first principles, which must be taken 
for granted, without proof.' 

Boyle says : ' God has furnished man either with certain innate 
ideas, or with models and principles, or with a faculty to frame them : 
The innate light of the rational faculty is more primary than the 
rules of reasoning.' 

Dr. Reid : ' The first principles of every kind of reasoning are 
given us by nature. The conclusions of reason are built on first 
principles. How or when I got such first principles, I know not, for 
I had them before I can remember.' 

Dr. Watts : 'It is our knowledge of truths which are wrought 
into the very nature and make of our minds. They are too evident 
to need proof. They are thought to be innate propositions, or truths 
born with us.' 



i 



20 NKW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

Dr. Beattie : ' That all mathematical truth is founded on certain 
first principles, which common sense or instinct compels us to believe 
without proof. Hence there is a power in the mind which perceives 
elementary truth, and commands implicit belief by instinctive im- 
pulse derived from nature.' 

Dr. Hancock : 'I therefore conclude that the elements, or first 
principles, of reasoning belong to every rational being, and that we 
cannot attain speculative knowledge, without building our reasoning 
on certain rational instincts, or first principles. So we cannot attain 
to any practical virtue, without building on the fundamental princi- 
ples of morality and religion, originally laid in the mind by God.' 

Lord Bacon : ' The light of nature shines upon the soul by an 
internal instinct, according to the law of conscience, by which it is 
enabled to discover the perfection of the moral law.' 

Sir Matthew Hale; ' By his faculties man is enabled to know 
the will of God, for it is in a great measure inscribed in his soul. 
Our clearest and best sentiments of morality have been gathered from 
a due animadversion of our own minds, next to divine revelation.* 

Dr. Cudworth: ' The soul is not a mere tabula rasa, a naked, 
passive thing, which has no innate furniture or activity of its own. 
The anticipations of morality spring from some inward vital principle 
in intellectual beings.' 

From these extracts, it will be perceived that many of the most 
eminent metaphysicians concur in the belief of innate ideas, or first 
principles, without being able to account for their origin. But if we 
admit the distinctive existence of the soul, and that it possesses all 
the intellectual, moral, and religious faculties, before its union with 
the body, we can easily understand the origin of innate ideas, their 
location, and mode of existence in the soul, and also the manner and 
means by which they are gradually and successively excited to action. 
These have already been explained. 

The soul, in its approach to the brain, brings with it all those 
innate ideas, the origin, existence, and location of which have so 
mysteriously embarrassed the scientific world. And as the organs 
which these faculties are destined to occupy become successively 
developed, and matured to receive impressions, without the hazard 
of being disorganized, they become more or less manifest, according 
to concurring circumstances. This is that class of innate ideas which 
communicates to us the first intelligence we ever receive of the 
being of a God, and of the necessity of living a holy and a religious 
life. These impressions are deepened by subsequent observation of 
his works, and above all by Divine revelation. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 21 

It must here be distinctly understood, that the ideas of a God and 
of religion are not in the first instance acquired by education and 
experience, but are derived entirely and exclusively from the soul ; 
which, according to the explanation already given, is perfect in all its 
intellectual, moral, and religious faculties. 

The senses also produce impressions on the brain of the foetus 
before birth, which constitute another source of innate ideas. On 
this principle, the much controverted question relative to the origin 
of virtue and vice, and the predisposition of infants to the latter, may 
be satisfactorily explained. 

The following remarks of Dr. Hutchinson, in relation to this 
topic, accord with the views of other philosophers, and are too appro- 
priate to be omitted. He says : ' It is an arduous task to trace virtue 
to its original source, whether it comes to man by nature, or by 
custom and education, or by some divine instinct. Many eminent 
philosophers admit that we have innate seeds of virtue. The seeds 
of virtue do not show themselves so early as the seeds of vice, what- 
ever may be the advantage of outward good example. For as that 
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is animal, and afterward 
that which is spiritual, so it may be consistent with the right order 
of things, that the animal, sensual, or inferior propensities, should 
appear before the moral or spiritual. We know not why the latter 
noble principles should appear in the infant, before it has discovered 
one spark of intellect. The following is the regular order in the 
scale of intellect : a sensitive, an animal, an intellectual, and moral 
state, is gradually unfolded. The propensities which appear first, 
are not so excellent as those which appear last.' 

All seem to concur with Dr. Hutchinson in the opinion just quoted, 
that vice precedes virtue in the order of time ; but none have 
accounted for the fact why it should so occur; nor have they satis- 
factorily explained the predisposition of infants to vice. 

I will now proceed to exhibit the facility with which this theory 
will elucidate this intricate subject, divest it of all mystery, and place 
it on the plain and simple ground of other physical operations. 

I have already explained the manner in which ideas originate from 
the senses ; that they are the first in the order of existence, and con- 
sequently make the first impressions on the brain ; and that originating 
entirely from the body, they may with propriety be denominated 
sensual, or, in the language of Scripture, carnal. These ideas, thus 
originating from the flesh, contain all the germs of vice, so subversive 
of human felicity; and when transmitted to, and lodged in the brain, 
constitute the sensual mind, in contradistinction to the moral mind, 
which is derived from the soul. 



22 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

The sensual mind, thus originating from the five senses, and being 
the first in the order of time, makes the first impressions upon the 
brain ; and as vice is the product of the sensual mind, and most con- 
genial to its nature, the mind of the infant becomes thereby predis- 
posed to vice, and to all its train of evils, before the moral mind is 
sufficiently matured to counteract its baleful influence. 

How long this influence has been exerted, and how deep these 
impressions have been made, before the. counter agents from the soul 
begin to operate, we can never ascertain. But that they are settled 
and radicated, accords with experience, and is confirmed by facts. 
And until the soul, by the efforts of volition, is brought to exert its 
influence to eradicate the impressions already made, the predispo- 
sition to vice will continue to increase, and to grow stronger and 
deeper, until advanced age shall render it perfectly insensible to the 
counter influence of the soul. It can then be eradicated only by the 
miraculous power of the Almighty. Thus verifying the Scripture : 
* The sinner of a hundred years old shall be accursed.' 

The order in the preceding scale of intellect, by Dr. Hutchinson, 
is perfectly consistent with the explanation I have already given of 
innate ideas, and is good authority in support of this theory. The 
same principles are equally applicable to explain the origin of virtue 
and vice. The first in his scale, the sensitive state, arises from the 
sense of touch, and is the first idea transmitted to the brain of the 
foetus. The animal state is the result of the other senses, as they 
successively commence operation ; thus, when complete, constituting 
the perfect sensual mind, the origin of all vice. His second and 
third, the intellectual and moral state, arrive with the soul, and do 
not commence operation upon the brain, until respiration has com- 
menced, and the sensual mind has made considerable progress 
toward its complete formation. This arrival of the soul constitutes 
the inceptive stage of the moral mind, the origin of ail virtue, which 
is gradually unfolded in all its faculties, as the different organs of the 
brain become developed, which it is destined to occupy, and as the 
body approaches its mature and perfect state. 

The preceding remarks relate to the mind in its sane and healthy 
condition. A few brief reflections will show how satisfactorily the 
sane principles may be applied to explain the operations of the mind 
under the influence of disease. 

It is not my intention, at present, to proceed to a detailed exposi- 
tion of the causes and treatment of insanity, but merely to indicate 
a few general principles that may be applied to preserve the health 
and to prevent the disease of the mind. 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 23 

The radical difference in the intellectual faculties of men is not 
so great as the difference in the means which they employ for their 
respective improvement in knowledge. It was a common remark of 
Sir Isaac Newton, that if he possessed any advantage over others, it 
consisted entirely in his ability to control his attention. This is 
literally true, and is the grand secret by which the most eminent and 
most scientific men have acquired their highest attainments, and their 
prominent distinction in the world. The reason is very obvious. 
Those who abstract their attention faom extraneous subjects, and 
concentrate it entirely and exclusively upon the objects of their 
study, will arrive at the highest possible attainments in science. 

By extending this controlling influence to all the faculties of the 
soul, ideas which had been long dormant, and of the existence of 
which the mind had become unconscious, will be excited to renewed 
and vigorous action. The soul, with all its faculties, will be thus 
brought into a more intimate approximation to, and alliance with, the 
organs of the brain, and will consequently impart to the mind that 
peculiar species of intellectual, moral, or religious science, which 
the will makes the greatest efforts to obtain. And if its exertions 
operate with equal force upon all these faculties, the individual will 
thereby acquire the reputation of being not only a great and wise 
man, but also of being a good man, devoted to objects of piety and 
benevolence. The mind, like the body, requires constant and regular 
exercise, to preserve its healthy condition ; and if suitably controlled 
by the will, its health and its sanity will continue to be preserved, 
until they are impaired by the infirmities incident to declining life. 
All its faculties will then be in equal and regular action. Antago- 
nist agents will never permit this balance to be disturbed, while they 
are unaffected by disease. This constitutes- the most healthy and 
sane condition of the mind ; and may always be found most perfect 
in those eminent men who are most distinguished for a high moral 
intellect, but destitute of this moral restraint ; men of the highest 
intellectual attainments are most liable to paroxysms of insanity. 

When this equanimity is disturbed, and this harmony of action 
destroyed, by any adequate cause, a discordance in the operation of 
the faculties occurs, which gradually impairs the sanity of the mind, 
and ultimately terminates in confirmed derangement. 

It will therefore be perceived that the preceding remarks justify 
the conclusion, that the same test which designates a great and good 
mind, will equally designate its most sane and healthy condition. 

I consider the will to be the supreme arbiter of this epitome of 
the universe. It sits enthroned in regal majesty, dispensing its man- 



24 NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 

dates through all the minute ramifications of its complicated empire. 
If these mandates are wisely conceived, and faithfully executed, by 
the subordinate agents which are permanently stationed at their 
respective posts ; if the will brings the soul, with all its faculties, into 
complete and extensive operation upon the brain ; all the depart- 
ments of its government will be equally and justly balanced, and the 
respective powers of each department will be retained within their 
own spheres of action. 

This condition of mind is best adapted to promote the happiness 
and the usefulness of the individual who possesses it. But the least 
deviation from this standard will mar this happiness, impair this 
usefulness, and induce disorder and discord ; all of which evils will 
continue to accumulate and to multiply, precisely as the will loses its 
influence, or is influenced by bad motives, or ceases to control the 
attention and all the faculties of the soul. 

The first symptoms which indicate the gradual approaches to 
insanity, are seldom observed : they are often denominated eccentri- 
cities of character, without the least suspicion of mental disease, and 
are characterized by a vacillating state of mind ; a rapid transition of 
thought from one thing to another; an inability to confine the atten- 
tion, for any length of time, to one subject. This disposition con- 
tinues to increase, till it terminates in an incessant wandering of the 
mind. 

The imagination then usurps the place of the understanding, and 
presents to the mind a thousand fanciful paintings, which the fancy 
endows with life and animation, and which it occasionally converts 
into castles, animals, and armies. Those persons who are in the 
habit of permitting their thoughts to rove at random, with no fixed 
object on which to concentrate, and without exerting any efforts to 
arrest their unmeaning current, or to subject them to the control of 
the will, are always liable to become insane. It is therefore very 
obvious that the remedial means necessary to prevent this deplorable 
occurrence, in its incipient stage, must be sought for in an entire 
removal of the remote and exciting causes. This habitual roving of 
the current of thought must be arrested, and brought, by habitual 
and strict discipline, into a regular train of moral reflections, steadily 
directed to one subject. The will must resume its authority, and 
exert all its efforts to control the attention, and to subdue all the 
faculties of the soul to its sovereign power. Such a course of reme- 
dial treatment, prudently and judiciously administered, will arrest 
the progress of the disease in its incipient stage, prevent its ultimate 
distressing termination, and restore to his anxious friends one who, 



NEW PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. 25 

without these precautionary measures, might have become a perfect 
maniac ; a tenant of the asylum ; an outcast from the world. 

I have now arrived at the completion of a very imperfect outline 
of a system of mental science, which I feel fully assured will most 
satisfactorily explain the mysteries connected with the immaterial 
part of man. That I have succeeded in producing an equal convic- 
tion in the minds of others, 1 can scarcely venture to hope. And 
indeed I have no desire to produce such conviction, unless this 
system shall ultimately be found to rest on the immutable basis of 
truth. 

But before the critic dips his pen in gall, I earnestly solicit him to 
bestow all his attention upon this view of the subject, until, by dili- 
gent investigation, he shall acquire a perfect knowledge of all the 
facts, authorities, and evidence, on which it is founded, and shall also 
clearly perceive the facility and perspicuity with which the appro- 
priate details may explain and develope the occult mysteries of the 
science of mind ; and if he can then, unprejudiced and in perfect 
candor, pronounce its principles to rest on a false basis, and shall 
sustain the charge, and effectually demolish the whole fabric, by 
sound arguments, supported by facts, I will promptly retract my 
error, and cheerfully bestow upon him my warmest gratitude and 
most profound admiration. 

But if the fundamental principles of this system shall survive the 
assaults of the critic, and receive the sanction of public opinion, the 
subject will be resumed and pursued through all the variety of 
details connected with the immaterial part of man, until the extensive 
field inclosed by this outline shall be fully occupied. And I trust 
that a new era in the philosophy of mind will thus be commenced, 
which abler talents will cultivate and improve, until the whole system 
of mental science shall be divested of all mystery, and so clearly 
elucidated and simplified, that both the material and immaterial parts 
of man shall be rendered equally susceptible of demonstrative proof. 



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